For the last 103 days Lucio Perez has spent his days in Amherst's First Congregational Church, which has provided him with shelter from immigration authorities who ordered him deported back to his native Guatemala in October.

On Sunday, he received a high-profile visitor: Sen. Ed Markey.

Markey, who said he has sent two letters to the Trump administration on Perez' behalf, met privately with Perez and his family for about 15 minutes before participating in a public discussion with Amherst officials, immigration advocates and people affected by the United States' tightening of its immigration policies.

"He is not only is not, to use Donald Trump's words, a 'bad hombre,' he's a good guy," Markey said.

Markey described Perez as a hardworking father who has been unfairly harmed by the immigration system.

"He is no threat to the community at all," Markey said. "There is no evidence of that at all. From my perspective, the reason that I'm here is to put a spotlight on this and the misguided immigration policies which we have in our country."

Perez also spoke at the meeting, thanking his supporters, noting the difficulty of his situation and describing his fears of being separated from his family.

Markey, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, was one of 16 Democratic senators to vote against a spending bill to end last week's partial government shutdown.

Following that vote he cited his desire to see long-term protections for immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally as children, and on Sunday called for a comprehensive immigration bill that would provide a path to citizenship for immigrants like Perez.

Perez has lived in Amherst's First Congregational Church since October, when he entered the building on the eve of his scheduled deportation to seek sanctuary from immigration authorities. ICE considers Perez a fugitive, but has abided by a 2011 policy that bars enforcement actions at houses of worship without the personal approval of a high-level official or other exigent circumstances

Perez entered the U.S. without authorization in 1999 to flee violence in Guatemala and seek economic opportunity, the Pioneer Valley Workers Center said in a press release. He married and had children, three of whom are U.S. citizens, and works as a landscaper.

In 2009, he and his wife were stopped by West Hartford police after they briefly left their children in the car to pick up drinks at a Dunkin' Donuts, according to the Pioneer Valley Workers Center.. The child abandonment charges were dropped, but ICE was notified of the arrest and opened a case against Perez.

For the next eight years, Perez lived under an order of removal but was allowed to stay in the country as long as he regularly checked in with immigration authorities, under an Obama-era prioritization system that granted stays to many immigrants who had entered the U.S. illegally but did not otherwise have criminal records.

But President Donald Trump's administration ended that system, and in September Perez was told to buy a plane ticket to Guatemala for Oct. 19 and fitted with an ankle bracelet.

On Sunday, Perez' attorney Matt Cameron said Perez has appealed his case the Board of Immigration Appeals, which is still considering the matter.

Perez' case has garnered support from Western Mass. immigrant advocates and elected officials. Springfield City Councilors Adam Gomez and Jesse Lederman and State Sen. Stan Rosenberg attended the meeting on Sunday. The offices of Rep. Jim McGovern and Sen. Elizabeth Warren also sent representatives.

In October, 18 activists were arrested for trespassing after linking arms in front of the building that houses Springfield's Department of Homeland Security office and refusing to move. The arrests followed a peaceful demonstration by about 120 people, who marched around the office building at 1550 Main St. and called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to not deport Perez.

Amherst passed a bylaw in May declaring that town officials would not participate in federal immigration enforcement.

"Based on the rhetoric of the president we saw there was a need to look at the Amherst by laws to see how our Amherst community could support those who are undocumented," Amherst Sanctuary Committee member Sid Ferreira said Sunday.